Belt conveyer



Dec. 23, 1952 F. BAINBRIDGE BELT CONVEYER 2 SHEETSFSHEET 1 Filed. May 16, 1949 Dec. 23, 1952 F. BAINBRIDGE 2,622,723

BELT CONVEYER Filed May 16, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Patented Dec. 23, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICIE- BELT CONVEYER Featherstone Bainbridge, Fenham, Newcastle -on- Tyne, England, assignor to Huwood Mining Machinery" Limited, Gateshead-on-Tyne, England, a corporation of Great Britain Application May 16, 1949, Serial No. 93,437 In Great Britain February 25, 1949 This invention relates to belt conveyors of the kind comprising end units carrying rollers or drums for the belt and, between these endunits, intermediate sectional structure comprising sections of sheet-like form which cover the lower flight of the belt are adapted to carry rollers for support of the upper flight, and at the ends are associated with supports which bear rollers for sustaining the lower flight.

This kind of conveyor is largely used in coal mining for delivering coal outbye and an important advantage of it is that due to its sectional nature it is flexible, that is to say it is able, Within the limits of most practical requirements, to follow dips and rises of uneven floor. Another advantage is that it is capable of comparatively ready dismantling to enable it to be moved up on advance of the coal face or to be moved to a new face.

The intermediate sectional structure has been made of parts or sections capableof being taken to pieces to-facilitate moving them about. This also enablesparts intended for replacement purposes or for extension of the conveyor, to be transported on the conveyor to the place'of use.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved construction of the intermed ate-sectional structure whereby'transport of its parts may be readily carried out and the structure dismantled when desired and which yet possesses desirable steadiness when in use, and has advantageous simplicity of construction.

According to this invention, the intermediate sectional structure of abelt conveyor of the above-mentioned kind (hereinafter termed the kind described), is built up from a plurality of substantially rectangular sheets of less width than the conveyor and from cradle devices to be disposed transversely of the conveyor belt, the said sheets being mounted side by side on the cradles to cover the width of the lower flight of the conveyor belt and being fitted with stiffening means along each longitudinal edge, the cradle devices being provided with removable. crossmembers to support thesheets at the ends, and the sheets and the cradles being adapted for the mounting fixedly in position thereonrespectively of idler rollers for sustaining the upper flight of the conveyor belt andof idler rollersfor sustaining the lower flight of such belt.

In order to enable the. invention to be readily understood reference is. directed to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view illustrating onee'xam- 2. ple of the intermediate sectional structure of the present improvements.

Figure 2 is an elevation of Figure l with part removed.

Figure 3 is a section to a larger scale on the line III-III of Figure l and showing the conveyor belt,

Figure 4 is a similar section on the line IV--IV of Figure 1, and

Figure 5 is a plan view of one end of a cradle hereinafter referred to.

It is believed that the conventional structural construction of a conveyor of the kind described will be understood without illustration. Generally, one of the end units is a drive unit comprising one or more rollers or drums operated by a motor or motors for driving the conveyor belt, while the other end unit is a tail unit mounting one or more belt rollers or drums, which are undriven, and often embodying means for adjusting the rollers or drums to tension the belt.

In accordance with the present invention, the example of intermediate sectional structure shown in the drawings and intended for a belt conveyor of the kind described, comprises across the width of the structure a pair of metal sheets I, 2. These sheets are stiffened along the longitudinal edges by lengths of tubing to which they are spot-Welded as at 3. As will be apparent from Figure 4 there is a single such length of tubing l along the inner longitudinal edge of each sheet and a pair 5 superposed at the outer longitudinal edge. The members of each pair 5 are spot-welded together as at 6 and at the ends of the sheets the latter are spot-welded to flat bars I which project at each side at 8, 9. The tubes and bars 4, 5 and I may also be welded together at their ends.

There are cradle devices IE3 for supporting the stiffened sheets I, 2. These cradles extend trans versely of the conveyor, the belt of which, for purposes of illustration, is shown by its trans verse section (the upper flight at H and the lower flight at [2) in Figure 3. The cradles comprise upstanding feet devices l3 at the ends connected rigidly by tubes I l welded or riveted thereto, see Figures 3 and l. The feet devices l3 are transversely slotted at i5 near the top and receive the ends of a cross-bar it which is a flat bar stiffened along the middle underneath by a piece of tubing I? which is spot welded to the flat bar. feet devices is such that the cross-bars may be applied to the cradles by inserting them atone end through the slot'l5 at one-end of thecradles,

The depth of the slots i5 of the cradle then moving them back a little to enter them at the other end into the slot I5 at the other end of the cradles, and then lowering the bars in the slots I5 to allow projections I8 beneath them to enter the open top of socket devices I9 welded to the inner side of the cradle feet devices I3. The cross-bars in this way are located in position in the cradles and at the same time prevented from coming out of position unintentionally.

Between, and near the ends, the tubes I4 of the cradles are spanned by cross-members 20 which are perforated to receive the trunnions of a roller 2I which is permanently mounted in the cradles to support the lower flight I2 of the conveyor belt. In Figure 2, the near end of the cradle to the left of the figure is removed to show the adjacent cross member 20. At points intermediately of the ends of the sheets I, 2 of the sectional structure, for example at 22, bars similar to the bars I aforesaid are disposed across the sheets and Welded in recesses in the stiffening tubes 4, 5. These bars 22 present lateral projections 23 at the outer longitudinal edges only of the sheets I, 2 and to the pairs of these projections, on either side of the combination of sheets I, 2 are secured by bolts 24, the frames 25 of idlers 26 which serve to support the upper flight II of the conveyor belt. These idlers, as shown and. after known practice, are placed so as to give this flight of the belt a trough form.

In assembling the intermediate sectional structure illustrated, a series of the cradles is laid along the length of the site where the conveyor is to be laid and between the end units of the conveyor. Then the lower flight I2 of the belt is laid along rested on the rollers 2| of the cradles. The cross bars I6 may now be mounted on the cradles in the manner already described. The cradles would be placed or adjusted so as to be at slightly less distance apart than the length of the sheets I, 2 of the sectional structure so that the latter may now be rested at the ends on the cross-bars of adjacent cradles. The sheets on the far sides of the conveyor would be dealt with first. Such a sheet would be laid on the cross-bars of two adjacent cradles and back a little from the far end thereof and then slid along until the lateral projections 8 at the ends of the sheet slip into the upper and unoccupied part of the appropriate slots I5 of the far cradle ends I3. Thereupon, the near side sheet would be laid on the crossbars IS a little way back from the near ends I3 of the cradles, and then slid toward those ends to bring the projections 8 of this sheet into the corresponding slots I5. It will be appreciated that the slots I5 are deep enough to enable this to be done. When fully home, the sheets I, 2 will be near together down the middle with the stiffening tubes I, 4 in contact with each other (see Figures 1 and 4) or substantially so, and also with the projections 9 of the two sheets butted end to end, or substantially so. The pairs of After the asupper flight II of the conveyor belt would be mounted in position by bolting them at 24 to the lateral projections 23 of the sheets I, 2. The

upper flight II would then be laid along the 4 frames on the idlers 26 and the ends of the belt joined in usual fashion to complete the installation of the conveyor.

It is believed that the dismantling of the conveyor for moving up with the face or for movin it to a new face will be understood without further explanation. It may be noted, however, that the intermediate sectional structure is capable of dismantling down to comparatively small inteers. There would be the idler frames 25 with rollers 26, the sheets I, 2, the cradles, and the cross-bars It all separate from one another and any of these are capable of ready handling. Moreover, replacements or additional supplies of these items can be readily laid on the conveyor to be transported and this without any of them projecting beyond the sides of the belt and thus being liable to foul roof supports or otherwise cause damage or injury.

In addition, the lower flight of the belt is not required to be laid along the floor before assembly of the conveyor. This, in known arrangements, is a disadvantage because it requires this flight of the belt to be lifted from the floor to get it on to the rollers which support it and which have to be removable from their supports to enable them to be placed under the flight on raising the latter and then re-engaged with their supports. This long and tedious procedure is avoided by the invention because the cross-bars I6 are removable to allow the lower flight of the belt to be laid straight on to the permanently mounted rollers 2 I. At the same time, nevertheless, the sheets I, 2 can be mounted over the lower flight of the belt to protect it and keep it free from material which may fall from the upper flight. Finally the idler frames 25 with their rollers 26 are readily mounted as soon as the sheets I, 2 are assembled.

I claim:

1. For a belt conveyor of the kind described, intermediate sectional structure comprising a series of cradles disposed transversely of the conveyor belt and spaced apart along said belt each of said cradles comprising upstanding members at the ends thereof and means rigidly connecting said members together, a cross-member mounted in each cradle in readily removable engagement at its ends with the upstanding end members of such cradle, a plurality of cover sheets for the lower flight of the conveyor belt, there being between each two adjacent cradles a pair of such cover sheets disposed side by side and supported at each end by the adjacent cradle cross-member, each cover sheet of the pair having readily disengageable connection at each end with one of the upstanding end members of the adjacent cradle, idler roller devices mounted removably on and above said cover sheets for sustaining the upper flight of the conveyor belt, and an idler roller mounted permanently in position on each of said cradles at a position below said crossmember thereof for sustaining the lower flight of such belt.

2. Intermediate sectional structure according to claim 1, wherein the upstanding end members of the cradles are formed with slots closed at each end and constructed to receive the ends of the cross-members, and the cover sheets on their outer longitudinal edge are provided with lateral projections adapted to engage in the said slots.

3. Intermediate sectional structure according to claim 1, wherein the cover sheets are each stiffened at the longitudinal edges by tubing welded to the sheets, the tubing at the outer longitudinal edge of each sheet comprising a plurality of tubes superimposed one above another and welded to one another.

4. Intermediate sectional structure according to claim 1, wherein the upstanding end members of the cradles are formed with slots closed at each end and the cover sheets have flat bars welded thereto at the ends, the bars projecting at each end beyond the longitudinal edges of the sheets, those projections of said bars on the outer longitudinal edge of the sheets being adapted to engage in the slots in the upstanding end members of the cradles and those projections of said bars on the inner longitudinal edge of the sheets being adapted substantially to be butted against each other.

5. Intermediate sectional structure according to claim 1, wherein the upstanding end members of the cradles are rigidly connected by members spaced apart and spanned intermediately between their ends by other members which pro vide permanent mounting for idlers for sustaining the lower flight of the conveyor belt.

6. For a belt conveyor of the kind described, intermediate sectional structure comprising a series of cradles disposed transversely of the conveyor belt and spaced apart along said belt, rollers mounted on said structure to support the upper and lower flights of said belt and a plurality of cover sheets for the lower flight of the conveyor belt, there being between each two adjacent cradles a pair of such cover sheets disposed side by side in near adjacency to each other and supported at each end by the adjacent cradles and there being between such a pair of cover sheets and an adjacent cradle connecting means of readily disengageable nature but operative positively to connect the sheets and cradle together in a manner to preclude said cradle from falling apart from said sheets in the event of the cradle being unsupported due to uneven floor when the conveyor is in use.

'7. For a belt conveyor of the kind described, intermediate sectional structure comprising a series of cradles disposed transversely of the conveyor belt and spaced apart along said belt, rollers mounted on said structure to support the upper and lower flights of said belt and a plurality of cover sheets for the lower flight of the conveyor belt, these cover sheets extending substantially throughout the full width of said flight and being supported at each end by said cradles and there being between each cover sheet and an adjacent cradle, connecting means of readily disengageable nature but operative positively to connect said sheet and cradle together in a manner to preclude said cradle from falling apart from said sheet in the event of the cradle being unsupported due to uneven floor when the conveyor is in use.

FEATHERSTONE BAINBRIDGE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,691,681 Thomson Nov. 13, 1928 2,128,309 Madeira Aug. 30, 1938 2,179,187 Kendall Nov. 7, 1939 2,437,499 Benjamin Mar. 9, 1948 

